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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28603653">All for the Best</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tablrcloth/pseuds/tablrcloth'>tablrcloth</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Angst and Feels, Banter, Crying, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Feels, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, I Made Myself Cry, Not Canon Compliant, President Toby Smith | Tubbo, Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Realization, Sad Ending, Self-Reflection, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:07:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,679</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28603653</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tablrcloth/pseuds/tablrcloth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You shouldn’t change the past for your own benefit,” Karl says, shaking his head.</p><p>“It’s not for my benefit,” Ranboo says, voice urgent. “I care about my friends. I would do anything for them. And they need this.”</p><p>Ranboo doesn't have a chance to continue explaining before Karl shouts, “I don’t want you sacrificing your life!”</p><p>-</p><p>Ranboo realizes in the aftermath of L'manberg's destruction that everything since he joined the server was all his fault... so he fixes it.</p><p>Or, Ranboo convinces Karl Jacobs to send him back in time so he can make things right.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>No Romantic Relationship(s), Ranboo &amp; Alexis | Quackity, Ranboo &amp; Floris | Fundy, Ranboo &amp; Karl Jacobs, Ranboo &amp; Toby Smith | Tubbo, Ranboo &amp; Toby Smith | Tubbo &amp; TommyInnit, Ranboo &amp; TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo &amp; TommyInnit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>834</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>All for the Best</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this work is fiction, and the characters do not represent the real life people. if any creators featured are uncomfortable, i will take this down no questions asked.</p><p>this fanfic idea is credited to @aksuallie on twitter. go follow, this is for them!</p><p>enjoy the read!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s a nice day in L’manberg, that much is clear. The sky is bright blue with roiling white clouds, the sun occasionally peaking through, and Fundy and Ranboo are manually putting snow everywhere <em> again, </em>because SOMEONE decided to spill their water bucket everywhere and not pick it up in time. Such a pain.</p><p>“Ranboo?” Fundy asks, collapsing face first in a snow drift.</p><p>“Yeah?” Ranboo says, looking down at his friend with mild concern. “Need help?”</p><p>“Nah. Do you think we should have another dinner party?” Fundy’s voice is very muffled from the snow, but he still doesn't get up.</p><p>“Oh, for the cabinet?” Ranboo says, leaning against the bee house. Fundy makes a noise from inside the snowbank, before sitting up, snow all over his face. “...Do you need a towel?” Ranboo offers.</p><p>“No, I’m peachy,” Fundy says, shaking himself of all the snow, and Ranboo has to dart away from where he was leaning to exit the blast radius. “I know it’s been like, a week since the last one, but everyone’s looked so stressed recently. This could take our minds off things.”</p><p>“Well, the festival <em> is </em>in a week,” Ranboo points out, “and I mean, Tubbo has reason to be. You remember what happened to him the last time a festival happened.”</p><p>“This time there’s no evil dictator to execute him,” Fundy says with a snort.</p><p>“I think it’s a good idea,” Ranboo continues. “You’re not gonna just have ice cream again, though, right?”</p><p>“...That’s the only thing I know how to make.”</p><p>“You. Don’t know... how to cook meat.”</p><p>“Do you want me to provide burned potatoes?”</p><p>“You <em> eat burned potatoes?” </em></p><p>“Listen, bud,” Fundy states, putting his hands up. “I am not a picky eater.”</p><p>“You just told me a story about you being unable to eat cooked vegetables.”</p><p>“I am not a picky eater.”</p><p>“So I have to provide the food,” Ranboo deadpans.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“This is the worst deal ever.”</p><p>“You agreed to it,” Fundy sings, looking mighty pleased with himself, and Ranboo sighs, resigning himself to his fate.</p><p> </p><p>The last dinner party was held in the camarvan, as there weren’t many public buildings within L’manberg usable for eating in. The only restaurant in the city was Niki’s bakery, and that hadn’t been open since the reign of Manberg. The camarvan, with its alias of the hto dog van, wasn’t much of a restaurant either, but it would have to do.</p><p>That’s where Ranboo is setting up the food now, a platter of chicken breasts, potatoes, and carrots laid on the wood table as well as chicken soup (that admittedly, Ranboo made from a can, but no one would have to know that). A knock at the door causes him to jolt away from his work, and he looks to the side.</p><p>“Oh! Fundy!” he greets warmly, and the man walks into the room, sitting in a chair with a heavy sigh. “Nope, you are not,” Ranboo says immediately, the friendliness leaving his tone. “You don’t get to make me do all the work. Set the table.”</p><p>“You are not my mother.”</p><p>“Your mother is a fish.”</p><p>“Is that a problem?” Fundy challenges, leaning forward, and Ranboo pinches the bridge of his nose, a habit picked up from Tubbo over the months.</p><p>“Please, Fundy.”</p><p>“Whyyyyyyy,” Fundy whines, but he stands up anyway and leaves the camarvan again. The nearest clean dishes were in the ice cream stand the two had set up earlier that day. Ranboo didn’t know why he would need plates for the food stand, but he figured it would be nice to have; in case of, y’know. Emergency.</p><p>Fundy emerges into the van again, quicker than expected, arm full of plates, and Ranboo cries out. “DUDE!”</p><p>“AGH!” Fundy says, dumping the dishes on the table.</p><p>“Don’t carry them like that, you’ll drop them! Do you know how hard it is to make plates?”</p><p>“It’s not hard, it’s just tedious! And you shouting at me almost made me drop them anyway!”</p><p>“Guys?” a voice says hesitantly, and the two immediately look up at the doorway. Tubbo is standing there, hand against the door, grimacing. “Did Fundy almost break more plates?”</p><p>“WHAT?” Fundy shouts, and Ranboo cackles.</p><p>“Is this a bad time?” Tubbo asks, amused, and Ranboo wheezes. “No, it’s- you’re right on time.”</p><p>“Okay, good,” he says, and walks further in, immediately sorting the plates, forks, and spoons over the table.</p><p>“Tubbo doing what you never could,” Ranboo says mock disappointedly, shaking his head at Fundy, who shouts again.</p><p>“Karl and Big Q are coming soon,” Tubbo says to Ranboo as Fundy attempts to melt into the floor.</p><p>“Karl?” Ranboo asks, tilting his head slightly. “He hasn’t been here in a while.”</p><p>“It’s been a <em> week, </em> and yeah, he just goes on trips. You know. Collecting stories, or something.” Tubbo shrugs.</p><p>Just as Ranboo opens his mouth to reply, another knock comes at the door, and Quackity and Karl are standing together. “Speak of the devil!” Tubbo cheers. “Karl, it’s good to see you again!”</p><p>“Boys, do <em> I </em>have a story to tell,” Karl announces, sitting down in a chair and pulling out his leather bound book. It was massive and filled with so many stories; the sheer amount of pages filled made Ranboo want to start crying tears of joy; not that he’d ever done that before.</p><p>“It’s like no one pays attention to me anymore,” Quackity says with a heavy sigh, and Tubbo snorts, making Karl giggle.</p><p>“He’s really out here,” Fundy says, still on the floor, and Tubbo snorts again.</p><p>“Well, can you tell it while we’re eating?” Ranboo asks Karl, and Karl’s eyes brim with mischief.</p><p>“Alright,” he says, and everyone settles down in a seat, food starting to be dished out onto plates.</p><p>“Once upon a time...”</p><p> </p><p>“Dude, you’re kidding. You made that up.”</p><p>“You have said that about every single story I’ve told.”</p><p>“Yeah, ‘cause I’m right!”</p><p>“That was SICK!” Tubbo cheers, mouth full of food, and Fundy boos.</p><p>“No chewing with your mouth open!”</p><p>“Do you mean-”</p><p>“AGH!” Fundy shouts, realizing his mistake of word choice and burying his face in his hands. Everyone starts laughing, and Fundy can’t help a chuckle either.</p><p>Ranboo glances at Tubbo, still grinning, but the other boy has a dull expression on his face, suddenly looking much older than he is.</p><p>“What’s wrong?” he asks immediately, and Tubbo looks up, brightness returning to his eyes, although Ranboo can't help wondering if it's forced.</p><p>“Just..." he starts hesitantly, then says, "wish Tommy were here.”</p><p>The mood in the van sombers completely as everyone recalls what happened. Tubbo, a month ago, came back from Logstedshire, sobbing and saying that Tommy had died, and Ranboo remembers guiltily that <em>that was not the case.</em></p><p>“Well, we keep going in his memory, right?” Quackity says, and Tubbo looks at him, nodding quietly.</p><p>“So, good story?” Karl asks to lighten the mood, and muffled noises of agreement sound from around the table.</p><p>“That was sick!” Tubbo says again, swallowing before speaking, and Ranboo nods.</p><p>“This was really good food, Ranboo,” Quackity says, and Ranboo looks at him, starting to grin.</p><p>“Yeah, well, Fundy said he could only provide burned potatoes, so I had to do everything.”</p><p>“How do you burn potatoes?” Tubbo asks.</p><p>“Sheer incompetence?” Karl guesses.</p><p>“HEY!”</p><p>The camarvan devolves into a fit of laughter once more, and as everyone finishes their meals it turns into quiet talking before people start leaving the van one by one, until Fundy and Ranboo are alone.</p><p>“Well,” Ranboo says, looking down at the table. “You can clean this up.”</p><p>“WHAT?”</p><p>“I cook, you clean,” Ranboo says with a shrug.</p><p>“That’s not how it works!”</p><p>“You agreed to it,” Ranboo mocks, and Fundy smacks his arm, causing them both to start laughing.</p><p>“Well, have fun!” he says cheerfully, and Fundy grumbles, before Ranboo leaves the camarvan and steps into the dark. It was getting dark quickly again, and Ranboo savors the night, breathing in deeply for a few moments before he walks to the side and onto the boardwalk, toward his home in L’manberg.</p><p>He walks through the plaza and up the staircase until he’s in front of the doors to his home, and he opens them, stepping inside. <em> Was there any work I needed to do...? </em> he wonders, looking around, before walking to his to-do list pinned to the opposite side of the door.</p><p>“Oh, <em> right,” </em>Ranboo mumbles. He had begun a project of cataloging all of the national documents; he thought it would be easy, because of how few there were, but it had become daunting as soon as he realized that there were so many missing papers scattered about. Why couldn’t they just have one singular place to hold all of their files? Ranboo thinks back to the time he found an important, signed paper by Schlatt in a random chest and grimaces; truly awful.</p><p>He lets himself groan deeply before he opens the door again, walking out onto the wood planks of the plaza before promptly forgetting what he was doing.</p><p>“Hey, Ranboo!” Karl says, and Ranboo turns. The other man is approaching him from his house underneath the railroad track, and Ranboo extends a hand to wave.</p><p>“Hey, Karl,” Ranboo greets, shoving his hands back in his pockets.</p><p>“Whatcha doing?” Karl asks, then starts laughing when he sees the blank expression on Ranboo’s face. “You forgot again, didn’t you?”</p><p>Ranboo frowns which sends Karl into another fit of giggles. “Well, I was just heading to my library. Wanna come with?”</p><p>Ranboo snaps his fingers. “That’s what I was doing!”</p><p>“You were going to my library?”</p><p>“No, I wanted to go to Ghostbur’s library to collect national documents.”</p><p>“Why? To eat them?”</p><p>“That is... appalling,” Ranboo deadpans, slightly horrified, and Karl starts giggling again. “No, I was going to catalog them.”</p><p>“I think I actually have something in my library that you might want for that, then,” Karl suggests brightly.</p><p>“Oh!” Ranboo says, suddenly delighted. “I’ll come, then!”</p><p>“Have you ever seen my library?” Karl asks, starting to walk, and Ranboo jogs to catch up.</p><p>“No, is it big?”</p><p>“Huge,” Karl says, and he extends his arms. “Like, this big.”</p><p>“That’s not very big.”</p><p>“I have small arms.”</p><p>Ranboo snorts, and the two continue talking easily, walking along the prime path until Karl stops by a hillside near Punz’s estate with a singular, thick oak door, which he pushes open with some effort.</p><p>“Here it is,” he says grandly, a proud grin on his face, and Ranboo’s mouth opens in amazement. There were <em> so </em> many books! Shelves upon shelves of them, with a rolling ladder to reach the tallest shelves. Encyclopedias, biographies, children’s stories; he could recognize them all just from the spines.</p><p>“I think I’m going to die of happiness,” Ranboo confesses, staring at the racks of books, and Karl laughs.</p><p>“Yeah, I’ve got a lot here. Feel free to browse around if you want, buuuuut,” Karl says, walking over to a bookcase and picking through the titles before pulling out an envelope from the shelf. Ranboo takes it from Karl’s outstretched hand and looks down at it; it’s already been ripped open, and Ranboo pulls out the paper from inside, eyes quickly scanning it.</p><p>“It was for the Manberg Festival. I never got rid of it,” Karl explains, setting his huge, leatherbound book on a table and looking back at him.</p><p>“Thank you,” Ranboo says genuinely, looking back up at Karl, before his eyes drift to the book. “...Can I ask you a question?”</p><p>“Shoot.”</p><p>“How do you actually... collect those stories?”</p><p>Karl smiles, the expression small on his face. “Um, well-”</p><p>“You don’t have to tell me,” Ranboo says hurriedly. “I was just wondering.”</p><p>“No, I kind of want to say,” Karl says with a laugh, the smile growing wider. “I’m so excited about it. You probably won’t believe me, but every story in that book; I’ve lived every single one.”</p><p>“...What? How?”</p><p>“I’m a time traveller,” Karl says.</p><p>Ranboo stares at him, and it sends Karl into a fit of giggles. “Okay, not- I was born in this time, right? I’m normal. I’m from here. But one day, I just found out I could time travel. So that’s what I do- I leave and I collect stories and then I come back.”</p><p>“That’s incredible!” Ranboo exclaims, eyes full of wonder, and Karl beams up at him.</p><p>“It’s so cool, right?”</p><p>“But that doesn’t, like- it doesn’t change the future?”</p><p>“Well, I haven’t tried that,” Karl confesses. “I haven’t tried messing with the, well- current past, I guess. So I would have no way of knowing. It just sends me back to my normal timeline anyway,” he says with a shrug. “Nothing’s changed as far as I know, at least.”</p><p>“Well, that’s good,” Ranboo says. “That’s so awesome. How do you do it?”</p><p>Karl answers by pointing at the front of his hoodie, straight at the green spiral. “It makes portals.”</p><p>“That’s so neat,” Ranboo grins. “And you only use it for finding stories?”</p><p>Karl shrugs. “So many tales die out. I think I should just collect them, for these people. ‘Cause ultimately, stories are the only things we can pass down. And I think that’s important.”</p><p>“That’s... really noble.”</p><p>Karl smiles at him and says, “Well, it’s the least I can do.”</p><p> </p><p>It’s a week after the dinner party, and the cabinet is gathered in the camarvan once more. The mood is considerably more sour than the last time they were all gathered.</p><p>“This sucks,” Tubbo says, and Quackity snorts.</p><p>“Way to state the obvious. You’re saying that Tommy and Techno know we have a festival tomorrow?”</p><p>“You’re saying that Tommy is <em> alive, </em> ” Karl points out, “and working with Techno?” Fundy shrinks under their gazes while Ranboo grimaces.</p><p>“Should we call off the festival?” Ranboo asks. “Techno has... proven he is <em> very </em> anti-government. I don’t want- I don’t want to risk anything.”</p><p>Tubbo chews his lip with a frown. “He doesn’t have his weapons. We still have his sword and his tools. What can he do to us?”</p><p>Everyone turns to Quackity, who glares at them in turn. “Do not blame me for dying to <em> Technoblade.” </em></p><p>“He had iron armor!”</p><p>Quackity opens his mouth to snap at Fundy, but Karl raises his hands. “We’re supposed to work together, not fight. Tubbo,” he says, turning to the president. “What do we do?”</p><p>“I guess...” Tubbo says, before he straightens, steeling his expression. “Techno and T- Tommy know about the festival. Do you know what they’re going to do?”</p><p>“No, we don’t. But if it’s anything like what we’re planning...” Fundy trails off.</p><p>“He might want his discs back,” Ranboo suggests, leaning forward, and Tubbo nods.</p><p>“I have Mellohi, Dream has Cat, and I don’t- I don’t think he’s going to do anything to me,” Tubbo says, but his voice is unsure.</p><p>“Tommy- I think we’re friends. I could talk to him if he tries anything. I won’t let him hurt you... if he tries,” Ranboo adds, and Tubbo sighs, looking down at the hands in his lap.</p><p>“I wish none of this were happening right now. I wish I could have fixed it all before- before any of it happened,” Tubbo says quietly, and Karl and Ranboo meet eyes, before Ranboo looks back at Tubbo.</p><p>“Want to take a walk?” Ranboo suggests, and Tubbo looks up, a small smile growing on his face at the suggestion.</p><p>“Sure,” he says, his chair squeaking loudly as he stands up and walks to the doorway, Ranboo joining him.</p><p>The two walk out of the van and onto the boardwalk, wood planks creaking under their feet as they trudge into the city and across the plaza.</p><p>“I don’t... I don’t know what I expected. I went into Logsted, and everything was blown up, and there was a pillar, and... I just assumed the worst. I didn’t even check for a body,” Tubbo says quietly, and Ranboo lays a hand on his shoulder.</p><p>“There was no way you could have known.”</p><p>Tubbo sighs deeply through his nose and stops walking, leaning heavily against a balloon stand. “What... what do you think would have happened, if I hadn’t’ve exiled him?”</p><p>Ranboo looks at him, chewing his lip as he thinks. “I... I don’t know. Dream would have oppressed us more, right?”</p><p>Tubbo slides down to the ground, resting on the wood beneath him as he thinks. “I just... why me? Why do I have to deal with this?”</p><p>“It’s not fair,” Ranboo says quietly, immediately understanding what Tubbo was talking about.</p><p>“I mean, I’m just a kid. Wilbur didn’t- he didn’t have to deal with a meddling villain trying to control his country. Schlatt didn’t have to exile his best friend. Why- <em>why me?”</em></p><p>Ranboo sits down next to Tubbo as the other boy starts to cry, head bowed. “I didn’t want any of this,” Tubbo sobs, and Ranboo pulls him into a hug, the two embracing as though their lives depended on it. “I just- I just want my <em>friends</em> back!”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Ranboo says quietly, and the two leaders sit there in their empty city, mourning the children they never got to be.</p><p> </p><p>It’s gone.</p><p>L’manberg is gone.</p><p>It had refused death for so long, always coming back to life, every single time it was faced with challenge and deceptions and traitors and death, and now it was gone.</p><p>Ranboo knew what happened after you died thrice. He knew the consequences of a third life lost.</p><p>It meant you were gone for good.</p><p>
  <em>Maybe this was meant to be.</em>
</p><p>As Ranboo gazes out over the carnage from his spot on the hill, a broken staircase leading down to a massive crater beneath him, he realizes something. All of his reflection these past few days, all of his panic and worry; what was it all for? Was it for a pit in the earth? Everything he had done in his time in L’manberg was for nothing. There was nothing left.</p><p>Ranboo turns to his right, staring at the group of people standing near Tommy’s tower; Tommy, Tubbo, Quackity, Ghostbur... thankfully, no one had died. Everyone was okay...</p><p>He watches as Tommy and Tubbo carefully interact, hardly having spoken in months. Two best friends that had been through it all...</p><p><em> I could take it all back, </em> he realizes. <em> I could do it, for them. I could... </em></p><p>
  <em> What would’ve happened if I had taken the blame instead? </em>
</p><p>Ranboo looks back at L’manberg and makes his choice.</p><p>He steps down from the hill and walks down the broken walkway, planks completely blown out and littered in the river below. There was so much scrap everywhere, so much destruction. Everything they had worked for, gone in an instant.</p><p><em> It wasn’t an instant, </em> he knows. <em> It was longer than that; it took forever. A painful, shameful roar. A cacophony of noise.</em></p><p>The silence in that moment is deafening, and Ranboo shakes himself out of his thoughts, walking down to the edge of the giant crater that threatened to swallow him up in its volume.</p><p>He’s looking for one man, and Ranboo knows he’d be here.</p><p>“Karl!” he calls, and the man looks up. He’s standing by Eret, Puffy, and Jack, all of them simply gazing out over what used to be their home. “I need to talk to you.”</p><p>“...Okay,” Karl nods, and jogs up next to him on the ruined staircase, waiting for him to speak first.</p><p>“Not here. In your library.”</p><p>“That’s... alright,” Karl says, slightly confused now, and the two of them walk up the path together, silent. The air is somber as they walk through Dream’s land, past Tommy’s house and Punz’s estate, until they finally make it to the hill with the thick oak door. Karl opens it first, and Ranboo walks in after him.</p><p>“Can you send me back in time?” Ranboo asks, cutting straight to the point. Karl stares at him, taken aback, before he asks, “Why?”</p><p>Ranboo hesitates, then continues, spilling his thoughts. He hasn’t felt more vulnerable in his life. “I want to fix this. L’manberg meant so much to Tubbo and to Tommy, and I think Techno and Phil and Dream made a mistake. L’manberg shouldn’t be destroyed. So I... I want to fix it.”</p><p>“No,” Karl says immediately, and Ranboo opens his mouth in shock, scrambling for a reply.</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“You shouldn’t change the past for your own benefit,” Karl says, shaking his head, and Ranboo leans forward, desperate for him to understand.</p><p>“It’s not for my benefit,” Ranboo says, voice urgent. “I care about my friends. I would do anything for them. And they- they need this. This is for them.”</p><p>“I don’t... I don’t think I could get you back,” Karl admits, looking up at him. “I’ve never sent someone else through before, I wouldn’t know what to do, I- I can’t just track your timeline down and save you once you go in! I don’t- I don’t know if you could come back.”</p><p>“I don't care what happens to me, just- please,” Ranboo whispers. “If you care about anything here, at all. Everything we’ve stood for, everything we’ve done- please, just... I need to do this.”</p><p>“I don’t want you sacrificing your life!” Karl shouts, but his voice is hushed.</p><p>“Why not? SO many people here, they- they sacrifice their lives all the time!”</p><p>“We <em> need </em> you.”</p><p>“You need L’manberg more,” Ranboo says, straightening. “It- it stood for something. And it was important. We can’t just... I could make it right.”</p><p>Karl’s eyes are filled with tears, and Ranboo lays a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Just let me. Please.”</p><p>“Okay,” Karl whispers, voice cracking, and he turns to his bookcases, pulling out a calendar and flipping through it before he points to an exact date. “November 29th. Tommy’s trial, and the day everything actually went down.” He looks back at Ranboo and says, “You’re absolutely sure?”</p><p>Ranboo nods resolutely, and Karl pulls on his hoodie string. The green swirl on his hoodie begins whirling slowly, before it opens up and a turquoise portal projects from the swirl. There’s no other side to the fog, just endless revolving of color.</p><p>“Good luck,” Karl whispers, and it’s the last thing Ranboo hears before he steps through the mist.</p><p> </p><p>Ranboo didn’t even realize his eyes were closed when he stepped through the portal, but he opens them again just as the turquoise mist is pooling away. He turns and watches as the last specks of teal melt into the night air, and then they’re gone.</p><p>He blinks, then- “TOMMY!”</p><p>Ranboo jumps and looks around, realization settling in the pit of his stomach.. He knows exactly where he is, and he tries to ignore the panic that’s starting to rise. He wanted this. And he’s only got one shot at it.</p><p>Ranboo tears his gaze away from the towering obsidian wall to his left and looks at the people standing in front of him. Tommy is shouting angrily at a group of people, gesticulating wildly, and Tubbo is pinching the bridge of his nose. Ranboo can see Fundy, Quackity, George, <em> Karl. </em></p><p>
  <em> Oh no. </em>
</p><p>“Tommy, Tommy, just- I’m trying everything in my power to keep you here. Just, can you- let’s take a walk,” Tubbo says, and he starts off down the prime path, everyone quietly following in his wake. “We’re gonna need to go to the courthouse.”</p><p>“Why do I need to go to court?” Tommy says incredulously, and everyone stares at him as though he’s braindead. “Fair enough,” he mumbles.</p><p>The walk to the courthouse is not pleasant, and Tommy keeps shouting at everyone who tries talking to him, George especially. Ranboo finds himself walking closer to the front than he remembers doing before, and Tubbo slides him a few glances, but other than that he’s unbothered.</p><p>After a particularly vicious jab to George on Tommy’s part, Tubbo sighs and enters the courthouse, gesturing at the cell on the right. “Tommy, you’re hurting your case. Please get in the cell.”</p><p>“Why would I get in the cell?” Tommy asks, crossing his arms.</p><p>Tubbo pinches the bridge of his nose again. “Because you’re a suspect, and we’re going to give you a fair trial.”</p><p>“I am not going to go in there,” Tommy says, his confident mask slipping, a quiet desperation entering his words.</p><p>“Please, Tommy, you’re hurting your case.”</p><p>Ranboo grimaces at Tommy and jerks his head at the cell, trying to beam the message of <em> just comply </em>at Tommy with his eyeballs, and Tommy walks inside. Quackity immediately pulls a lever on the wall and the iron bars slide shut after Tommy. He’s locked in.</p><p>Ranboo slides into a seat next to Niki, with George and Karl sitting further away. He’s only got one chance at this. One chance to take the blame, to be exiled in Tommy’s place. He can do this.</p><p>“Who’s my lawyer, then?” Tommy challenges, leaning through the bars, and Quackity raises his hand. “No- no,” Tommy says, waving him off. “Tubbo, you’re my lawyer.”</p><p>“Tommy, I need to be unbiased here,” Tubbo mutters, shuffling papers on top of the stand.</p><p>“Can’t I choose my lawyer? I have that right, don’t I?”</p><p>“Tommy, you <em> voided </em>all those rights when you burned down George’s house!” Tubbo shouts, finally turning to look at him.</p><p>“Are you kidding?” Tommy shouts back, and Ranboo stands up from his seat, stepping forward. All eyes in the room immediately turn to him, and he takes a deep breath.</p><p>“Wait.”</p><p>“...’Wait’ what?” Tubbo asks, and Ranboo stares him down.</p><p>“Tommy didn’t do this. I did.”</p><p>“...What?” Tubbo whispers, horrified.</p><p>“I burned down George’s house. Tommy was there, but he didn’t do anything. ...I did everything. I lit the flint and steel, and I left the signs.”</p><p>“He’s lying!” George shouts, pointing a finger at him, and Ranboo turns to look at him. "There's no way it was him!"</p><p>“How would you know? You weren’t there.”</p><p>“Tommy? Is this true?” Tubbo asks, and Ranboo finally looks at Tommy, who’s staring at him with a strange look in his eyes.</p><p>
  <em> I’m doing this for you. </em>
</p><p>“...He’s telling the truth,” Tommy forces out, and Ranboo slowly blinks at him as though to say <em> thank you. </em></p><p>“What now?” Quackity asks, sounding extremely confused, and Fundy is staring at him, eyes wide with shock.</p><p>“I...” Tubbo trails off. “I guess... we give Ranboo the trial. Tommy, you can...”</p><p>Quackity walks over to the lever next to Tommy’s cell, and the bars slide away. Tommy steps through quickly, still staring at Ranboo, and they trade places.</p><p>“Well, um- I- George, may you present the facts?”</p><p> </p><p>“Why did you do it?” Tommy asks him later. Ranboo is sitting on his beach, far, far away from L’manberg, in the place where Logstedshire should have stood, and Tommy is next to him, quietly watching the waves lap at the sand and the stars reflect in the water. Ranboo’s been here for a month now, exiled from this L'manberg and unable to return to his original timeline, but that's okay. He had a mission, and he completed it.</p><p>“Everyone who was ever supposed to care about you has ended up betraying you,” Ranboo says, swirling a finger in the sand. “I didn’t want to be one of them, too.”</p><p>He watches Tommy face him in his peripherals, but he continues to stare at the waves lap at the beach. “Besides,” Ranboo continues, “you covered for me once. I covered for you once. We’re even.”</p><p>“I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about,” Tommy says, and Ranboo finally looks at him. His hair hasn’t yet lost its golden shine, his eyes are still a bright, sparkling blue, and in that moment, Ranboo realizes he did it. <em>He won.</em></p><p>As he revels in his quiet victory with the knowledge of <em> I have done everything I could, and it was all for the best, </em>he opens his mouth and whispers, “Good.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i was listening to "but the earth refused to die" orchestral covers while writing this, does it show?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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